What a week!
August 31, 2007 -- Stay tuned for comments on the resignation of Alberto Gonzales as U.S. Attorney General. But for now, I just have to comment on the wild scene in the U.S. Senate and the "family values" folks who have taken over my former Republican party. Apparently there have been rumors about the private sexual conduct of Senator Larry Craig of Idaho for some time. Frankly, I do not care if he is gay or not; but his party and his constituents care a lot. It reminds me of the mess that President Clinton got himnself into over sex several years ago. My thought at the time was that the guy is a Rhodes Scholar -- one of the truly brilliant minds of this country. And yet he could not understand something I though was both simple and obvious: You can be a successful politician, and you can be a great lover; but you really cannot be both. He simply wouldn't make the choice he had to make; and it nearly ruined him.
Here the choice was even more stark. Senator Craig wanted to be a great defender of family values; but there is some evidence (I make no decision as to his "guilt" of the sex solicitation of which he was accused but not convicted) that he tried to lead a double life of anonymous sex while traveling. If this is true, he needs some professional help to sort out things. Being gay is not a crime; and having sex with other men should not be a crime either. But he is accused (and still not convicted) of engaging in high risk behavior (both from a legal and medical view) which just is not becoming a man of his education and intelligence. What a shame.
This is one of the reasons I am a Libertarian. and while I am a politician, I am not a serious one. No, nobody is going to catch me doing things like he was accused of. But whatever I may be accused of, I have my reponse at the ready: "What do you expect from me? I'm a Libertarian." Those who want make a career of campaigning for "family values" had better be awfully careful, or it will jump up and bite them. Mitt Romney quickly fired him from his campaign and said he thought the behavior was "disgusting". Romney may have forgotten the Biblical admonition: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Shame on him for being such a self-righteous jerk. And shame on the Republican Party for its determination to criminalize essentially private behavior. Who, outside of the religious right (which seems to contain its fair share of those with sexual problems) really cares?
Senator Craig needs to come to terms with who and what he is. Then he would certainly be welcomed as a Libertarian, as was former Republican Congressman Bob Barr who finally realized his "war on drugs" campaign was a terrible mistake. Give it some thought, Senator. You have seen what kinds of friends you have in your current party.
Here the choice was even more stark. Senator Craig wanted to be a great defender of family values; but there is some evidence (I make no decision as to his "guilt" of the sex solicitation of which he was accused but not convicted) that he tried to lead a double life of anonymous sex while traveling. If this is true, he needs some professional help to sort out things. Being gay is not a crime; and having sex with other men should not be a crime either. But he is accused (and still not convicted) of engaging in high risk behavior (both from a legal and medical view) which just is not becoming a man of his education and intelligence. What a shame.
This is one of the reasons I am a Libertarian. and while I am a politician, I am not a serious one. No, nobody is going to catch me doing things like he was accused of. But whatever I may be accused of, I have my reponse at the ready: "What do you expect from me? I'm a Libertarian." Those who want make a career of campaigning for "family values" had better be awfully careful, or it will jump up and bite them. Mitt Romney quickly fired him from his campaign and said he thought the behavior was "disgusting". Romney may have forgotten the Biblical admonition: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone." Shame on him for being such a self-righteous jerk. And shame on the Republican Party for its determination to criminalize essentially private behavior. Who, outside of the religious right (which seems to contain its fair share of those with sexual problems) really cares?
Senator Craig needs to come to terms with who and what he is. Then he would certainly be welcomed as a Libertarian, as was former Republican Congressman Bob Barr who finally realized his "war on drugs" campaign was a terrible mistake. Give it some thought, Senator. You have seen what kinds of friends you have in your current party.
posted by Andrew McCullough @ 11:35 AM
2 Comments:
At 2:18 PM,
JM Bell said…
You can be a successful politician, and you can be a great lover; but you really cannot be both.
That gave me a chuckle.
At 1:52 PM,
Anonymous said…
Yea... it gave me a chuckle also, but after some consideration, I have to disagree. One can be both as long as he or she does each in its proper place and time. The problem is not that one can or can't be both, but not doing the one while performing the other.
Clinton tried to be a good lover - if that's what you call a bj - in the Oval Office as Prez. Sen. Craig tried to impress his arresting officer not with his physical but with his Senatorial credentials. That was part of his problem.
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